Celtics 2025-2026 Discussion

jimnance · Apr 4, 2026

bresna said:
Another insane Q1 last night. The Bucks seemed to laying down though and I thought it was pretty funny that the NBA announced that they were investigating the Bucks for sitting Giannis during the actual game.

I think the C's next 3 games against the Raptors, Hornets & Knicks, all potential playoff opponents, could give an idea of how far they can go this year. That Knicks game is going to be a huge test for them.

Ain't worried about the Knicks

jimnance · Apr 4, 2026

jimnance said:
Lets' go Huskies!!!
3rd Championship Game in last 4 years for the most dominant College Basketball team over the last 30 f'n years!
Been a huge Huskies fan ever since Jim Calhoun left the Northeastetn Huskies for te UConn Huskies.
I used to work right across the street from Northeastern and we hired Northeastetn interns all the time. I had one as a personal assistant and she was sensational. No, get your heads outta the sewer, not that way.
I also played a lot of hoops on different levels for many years and loved the Northeastern program under Big Jim.
Go back to 1995- UConn has more National Chsmpionships than anyone. More than Duke, UNC, Kentucky, everybody.
They are the Bluebloods of College Basketball.

All that being said, Arizona and Michigan are the 2 best teams this year. UConn is 3rd.
So winning the Championship for 3 times in 4 years is a monumental task.
But the Huskues are tough ,talented and smart. So we'll see. Regardless of what goes down Monday night I'm proud of em.
Finally, I know Western Conn. is basically a NYC suburb but Eastern Conn. is basically typical New England, going Pats, C'', B's, Sox.
But Connecticut is still a New England state and I always pull New England teams.
BTW, how about those Vermont Catamounts, in the Big Dance almost every year

bresna · Apr 5, 2026

jimnance said:
Ain't worried about the Knicks

I think it comes down to CAT. If he can play hard without fouling every 2 minutes, he can affect the game in a big way.

jimnance · Apr 5, 2026

bresna said:
I think it comes down to CAT. If he can play hard without fouling every 2 minutes, he can affect the game in a big way.

Yeah, CAT has been a problem before.
But the C's are a better team now than they were last year even before JT went down.
Brown, Pritchard, Queta, Hauser, Walsh are all better players than they were last year.
I'lll say it right now: Queta is better than any center on the team last year, including KP.
DWhite and JT are just as good as they were.
Pritchard is a major upgrade over 2024 Jrue, who is not the player he was a few years ago.
C's are the team to beat in the East, although Detroit is tough and won't be easy.
Not impossible to win the Finals if they get there but obviously C's are underdogs to OKC and San Antone

bresna · Apr 8, 2026

There was a strange call last night and after re-watching it again this morning, I'm still wondering what the heck was going on. Jaylen Brown was called for palming. PALMING?!? I mean, yeah, he palmed it. He always palms it. So does every other player in the NBA.

I have a question about a Hornets player. His name is Kon Knueppel. They were pronouncing his last name kuh-nipple. How the heck do you get kuh-nipple from that spelling. I would think it would be pronounced new-pull.

If they think kuh-nipple is the correct way to say this, they must call a knife a kuh-neef-eh

bresna · Apr 9, 2026

Tonight's the C's tune-up for the playoffs. I'm curious to see how this goes. I want them to win but I hope it's not a blowout. Blowouts seem to backfire when the playoff roll around. No team likes to get embarrassed, especially at home.

bresna · Apr 9, 2026

Well ****… no Brown tonight. Queta and White are questionable. Not so much of playoff tune-up as I thought. Almost seems like they’re giving up on this one before it starts.

Zuma · Apr 9, 2026

I prefer Tatum, Brown and White rest. I couldn't care less how the next 2-3 games turn out.

aluminum seats · Apr 9, 2026

bresna said:
Tonight's the C's tune-up for the playoffs. I'm curious to see how this goes. I want them to win but I hope it's not a blowout. Blowouts seem to backfire when the playoff roll around. No team likes to get embarrassed, especially at home.

The question for years with the Celtics have been can they win the game in crunch time

bresna · Apr 10, 2026

Zuma said:
I prefer Tatum, Brown and White rest. I couldn't care less how the next 2-3 games turn out.

So you're OK with the 3 seed? I would prefer the 2nd myself.

aluminum seats said:
The question for years with the Celtics have been can they win the game in crunch time

The answer this year has mostly been "no". They showed it last night. To put a weird spin on it, a lot of clutch shots were made by Scheierman, a player who spent most of last year in Maine.

Celtics-Knicks Player Grades and Stats: Scheierman's 20 Nearly Saves Celtics in Loss

Zuma · Apr 10, 2026

bresna said:
So you're OK with the 3 seed? I would prefer the 2nd myself.

They lost the game with them playing. Are you ok with that? They should have sat.

One-If-By-Sea · Apr 10, 2026

Zuma said:
They lost the game with them playing. Are you ok with that? They should have sat.

I think Tatum still needs reps. The Celts should play to win tonight, against the Pelicans, and clinch the #2 seed. If Brown is really hurt, he can still rest. After tonights game the starters can have about week off.

Zuma · Apr 10, 2026

One-If-By-Sea said:
I think Tatum still needs reps. The Celts should play to win tonight, against the Pelicans, and clinch the #2 seed. If Brown is really hurt, he can still rest. After tonights game the starters can have about week off.

I think he's pushing himself too hard. I prefer to be safe then sorry with the achilles.

JoeSixPat · Apr 10, 2026

bresna said:
So you're OK with the 3 seed? I would prefer the 2nd myself.

The answer this year has mostly been "no". They showed it last night. To put a weird spin on it, a lot of clutch shots were made by Scheierman, a player who spent most of last year in Maine.

Celtics-Knicks Player Grades and Stats: Scheierman's 20 Nearly Saves Celtics in Loss

You're not wrong that they don't have a great track record against the best teams

But that could have something to do with not having Tatum for most of the season too

But last night's game was PURPOSEFULLY not going to be a playoff tuneup. The Celts need only one more win in their last 2 to get the 2nd seed - which I agree with you, is more important this year than others, so they didn't NEED this win

Thus rest JB and try some other looks while giving Tatum a full game, Vooch a half a game (probably would have played more but Queta is too good to sit) and watching Peyton and Baylor have big nights, all of whom will be able to get even more open when JB is on the court with Tatum

Boston clearly wanted to win even at half strength - meanwhile I saw NY give EVERYTHING to stop even this understrength lineup

So I come out of that loss with the glass at least 3/4 full heading into the playoffs. At full strength they can beat any team in the East - but will have to be fully healthy hitting on all cylinders to beat the West

JoeSixPat · Apr 10, 2026

Zuma said:
I think he's pushing himself too hard. I prefer to be safe then sorry with the achilles.

I think guys like Tatum and Brady just don't think like the rest of us as neither appears to play with the "I'm coming off an injury" mindset.

Some of that is being able to rehab full time with a full time PT as opposed to me, when I suffered a Joe Theisaman-esque ACL injury, had limited time for PT and ALWAYS was mindful of physical activity (especially side to side stuff) on a repaired knee.

But not every player is like that - I remember Dee Brown was really never the same after his injury - and like I said, I can't blame him.

Bottom line is you may be right, that he his mind may push his tendon beyond what it can handle - but I think for him he's just in a "play with all abandon" mindset at nearly all times - and with a 24 point double double last night I think we'll be liking what we see from him in the playoffs, as long as the new tendon holds.

And should he blow it out again in the playoffs this year, you can bet he'll be back for next year's playoffs again!

LightSkinSmurf · Apr 10, 2026

So how we feeling about our postseason chances? I don't give us much of a shot at all to go all the way. Not without a **** ton of luck. I've seen many championship teams in my life and this doesn't look like one of them. I do think we can make alot of noise though and possibly even reach the finals.

JoeSixPat · Apr 10, 2026

LightSkinSmurf said:
So how we feeling about our postseason chances? I don't give us much of a shot at all to go all the way. Not without a **** ton of luck. I've seen many championship teams in my life and this doesn't look like one of them. I do think we can make alot of noise though and possibly even reach the finals.

I think you got it

The 2 seed sets them up to face anyone BUT Detroit until the Eastern finals

They can beat anyone else in the east and can beat Detroit with "a ton of luck"

... and they can beat OKC with "a **** ton of luck"

RobertWeathers · Apr 10, 2026

LightSkinSmurf said:
So how we feeling about our postseason chances? I don't give us much of a shot at all to go all the way. Not without a **** ton of luck. I've seen many championship teams in my life and this doesn't look like one of them. I do think we can make alot of noise though and possibly even reach the finals.

It all depends on how Tatum holds up in terms of fatique. Mazz has been ramping up his minutes and hes responding well.

I'm more scared of the Knicks than DET. Both are beatable as long as we are shooting well and playing solid D.

bresna · Apr 10, 2026

LightSkinSmurf said:
So how we feeling about our postseason chances? I don't give us much of a shot at all to go all the way. Not without a **** ton of luck. I've seen many championship teams in my life and this doesn't look like one of them. I do think we can make alot of noise though and possibly even reach the finals.

I'm pretty much with you on this. I really don't even think they'll get through the East. Consistency is the issue. Even with the gaudy numbers some of the players have - I'm talking about you, Mr. Hauser - they seemed to collectively hit & miss this year. It made for a Jekyll & Hyde season, which I worry won't work in the playoffs when teams up their defenses and the refs swallow their whistles.

Speaking of the refs... I have to be honest - I'm worried that the refs are going to ruin these playoffs as this Celtics team has made a big effort to drive to the paint, but they have yet to get the calls they should playing that way. It used to be just Brown getting slapped around on drives but now it's Pritch and man, does Queta get hacked putting up rebounded shots. It's probably going to get ugly, with Brown getting T'eed up and probably tossed for one of these games.

Zuma · Apr 10, 2026

One-If-By-Sea said:
I think Tatum still needs reps. The Celts should play to win tonight, against the Pelicans, and clinch the #2 seed. If Brown is really hurt, he can still rest. After tonights game the starters can have about week off.

I don't. I think he proved in the previous few games he is physically back to form...but the achilles. I'd still rather be safe then sorry. The Pelicans? Srsly? I prefer to sit him.

EDIT: looks like I got my wish

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